VIOLETS // In Short

We spoke to the cerebral-dance, female-fronted trio, VIOLETS, ahead of their debut single, ‘Night Ritual’, which is out on Make Your Own Records at the end of this month.

Pippa Sarratt, Aaron Miller and Rob Wheatley were drawn together by a mutual desire to create music without restriction or limitation, with no sense of genre or audience boundaries. Formed in 2018, the next 12 months saw the trio crafting their vision, building a unique musical project they truly believed in. Thus, VIOLETS was born.

Drawing on her literary upbringing of Austen and Brontë, Pippa Sarratt writes almost painfully honest lyrics based around themes of liberation and togetherness, but which also find room for contrastingly stark contemplation of human isolation. VIOLETS’ first single release, ‘Night Ritual’, typifies this juxtaposition. An irrepressible, powerful surge of energy runs through the song, while Pippa delivers the tale of an emotionally explosive night – how wanting to be taken “higher” inevitably leads to a bittersweet comedown.

Pippa has dance energy and unbridled vitality running through her writing – qualities that have already landed spots on some of Spotify’s biggest playlists, like New Music Friday and Massive Drum’n’Bass. OnVIOLETS’ new single, Pippa emits this same feeling of euphoric, eccentric dynamism, but wedded to moments of introspection and rich musical textures that invite you in and dare you not to hang around. It’s a combination that makes this genre-mashing trio so undeniably fresh and pleasingly idiosyncratic.

We caught up with front-woman, Pippa, to find out a little more about her; from jobs, to satsumas, to Charlie XCX’s Instagram feed…

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Three words to describe our/my music… A Thoughtful Escape

Last photo on your phone… I went to a gig the other night and bumped into my wonderful friends:

The best venue I’ve played…The Ace Hotel in Shoreditch. The coolest venue we have played. The people and the place itself were amazing. Such a buzzy energy in the room and a gig that stands out for us. We even had a friend with “VIOLETS” written across his chest!

Earliest song you remember… Excluding all the musicals I subjected my sister to listening to me sing, it has to be Wannabe by the Spice Girls! I was obsessed with Scary Spice.

The worst job I’ve ever had… Sadly there are quite a few tragic ones that come to mind…the worst included wearing Hawaiian shorts…I’ll leave it at that.

My Favourite word… I love the word “palava”, which I don’t think is actually an english dictionary approved word but it really should be. Also fluffy. Flufffeeeee!

Things that cheer me up… Raving with my friends! Hugs with my puppies! Herne Hill food market or walking anywhere when the final destination is food. Star-gazing! A big mug of tea!!! And funnily enough, writing really sad songs. If I’m sad and write a really sad tune, it just releases all that feeling and I’m a lot happier for it!

If I could play a gig anywhere it would be… The Royal Albert Hall

I think you should listen to… Kllo. One of our favourite bands ever. They and their music rock so much – please go listen!

If I could see anyone play live it would be… Fleetwood Mac! Or maybe Dawn Wall – they’re anonymous so I’d get to find out their identity…